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Wednesday 24 October 2018

Rock Spice - Stretford, Manchester

Rock Spice, Manchester
Bubbles, lots of lovely food, good company and even a bit of magic. Sounds like a fun filled Friday evening to me.

Rock Spice is tipped to be a new breed of Asian restaurant, taking a step away from the local curry house, and fusing Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines with Western influences. They appear to be setting their sights high, with another three sites planned for Blackpool, Liverpool and London, with 20-30 eventually on the cards. Literally in the shadows of Old Trafford's East Stand, it's an ideal place to go pre or post match, although I fear if I went beforehand, I would sleep through the game. Although that may be a blessing at the moment...
Rock Spice, Manchester
Bubbles were flowing on arrival, and we soon spotted blogging pals Charlie and Simon (Gin Fuelled Blue Stocking), and Carl and Stephen (The Gourmet Gays).

So to the food. We were given lots of dishes to try, which the team felt showcased what they had on offer. Apologies in advance for the poor lighting, we were not in a photo friendly spot! I'm sure you'll get the gist though.

Tandoori fish and vegetable canapés: Lovely bitesized pieces of white fish or vegetables covered in tandoori style spices, with tamarind and mint dips. Perfect with a glass of fizz. I'm not even going to lie, our table ate a lot of these.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Golgappas topped with panipuri: It was very unclear what was going on here. One was mint, the other was 'spicy', both had a little panipuri on the top, filled with spicy onions. Jeez Louise these packed a punch! A little strong for me, but a fun concept which got the table talking. They are hot dammit. 
Rock Spice, Manchester
Rock Spice, Manchester
Between courses, the delightful Harry Robson (fresh out of Hogwarts) was entertaining us with some magic tricks. I'm the first to say I hate table magic, and most magicians in general, but Harry is a right little diamond. He brings humour and some really clever tricks. Met with a table of over-thinkers and hand watchers, he managed to baffle us all by getting Simon's card into a sealed envelope. You're a wizard Harry.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Mixed grill platter: I'm pretty sure this is the Bolton influence in this 'fusion' style of cuisine. A big platter of meat which was very well received at this stage, as we were mightily peckish. My highlight was the charred spicy lamb chop.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Mixed pepper and mango salsa: Who even knew that I'd be sat here raving about a salad? This was absolutely delicious. Shards of tricoloured peppers with ribbons of carrot, mango and coriander. I could have eaten this whole platter. I want this with every curry from now on. A real star of the show considering it was something so simple.
Rock Spice, ManchesterChicken biriyani: God bless the arrival of carbs. My cousin's wife is from Pakistan (special mention to Sakba), and makes the best chicken biriyani. Very few come close, but I have to say this was pretty near. The chicken was well marinaded, and the rice had taken on rich flavours from the cooking liquor. 
Rock Spice, Manchester
Channa masala: Lifelong carnivore, absolutely loving this dish. The only one that we ate every scrap of. Cooked down to perfection, this was best paired with fluffy naan bread. Could just have this now. Furious.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Chicken afzaa: A pleasant creamy dish, which I expected to taste like a korma because of its colour. It was actually nowhere near as sweet, yet still very creamy.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Lamb karahi: Tender slow-cooked lamb in a thick, fragrant sauce. Great with rice. It was nice to see three very different sauces showcased over the variety of curry dishes.
Rock Spice, Manchester
Garlic butter naan bread: The lovely fluffy variety, rather than the type where the edges are like toast. The addition of melted butter infused with garlic kept them wonderfully moist too. Perfect for dipping in those sauces.
Rock Spice, Manchester
The chefs at Rock Spice had a lot of people to serve on Friday, all on the same sitting. Much respect to the kitchen, who managed to turn out great food which was fresh and piping hot throughout the night. Evenings spent eating lots of tasty food, catching up with friends, and sipping bubbles are the best type. Huge thanks go to Caroline and the Rock Spice team for our invite, and a very pleasant evening indeed.

Disclaimer: This was a free press event. I was not coerced into saying nice things, and to the best of my knowledge, no spells were put on me by Harry in order to sway my judgement. I just really like curry. 

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